The U.S. patent of M. A. Shahid, U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,981, granted Dec. 7, 1993 (hereinafter '981) describes a method for applying optical fiber connectors to optical backplanes of the type comprising optical fibers routed on a flexible plastic substrate. The optical fibers of each of the output tabs or output ports are contained between a pair of optical fiber support members on opposite sides of the fibers. The support members are made of a monocrystalline material, such as silicon, in which opposing V-grooves are made by photolithographic masking and etching for containing the fibers. It is essential that the optical fibers be contained at precise locations by the support members of a connector so that the optical fibers of another connector can be abutted against them such that light can be efficiently transmitted between the abutted fibers. Monocrystalline silicon support members suit this purpose because of the precision with which the V-grooves in such material can be made. The U.S. patent of M. A. Shahid, U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,426, granted Feb. 15, 1994 (hereinafter '426), describes how the same general technique can be used for applying connectors to optical fiber ribbons.
While the techniques of the Shahid '981 patent and the Shahid '426 patent have significantly reduced the time, expense and operator skill needed to provide interconnections to the output ports of optical backplanes and to optical fiber ribbons, forming and applying the connectors still constitutes a significant expense. Further, the silicon connectors are not amenable to automatic or robotic placement, as is desirable for mass production, because of their relative fragility and the difficulty of shaping them along planes that do not correspond to their crystallographic planes. Making V-grooves in each individual support member by photolithographic masking and etching is, of itself, comparatively time consuming.